A place for English speaking sofrim (scribes), magihim (examiners), rabbis and vendors of Stam (Torah, Tefillin and Mezuzah scrolls) from around the world to communicate, share ideas, ask questions and offer support and advice.

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Sunday, August 19, 2012

“Purchasing STAM” ebook

I wrote a series of educational posts about purchasing STAM on my own blog over a period of several months. The entire series has been edited, updated, and repackaged as a free ebook.

The ebook is currently available in the following formats:

Mobi for Kindle and Kindle apps.

ePub for most other e-readers.

PDF for printing or viewing on a PC, Mac, smartphone, or tablet computer.

Before releasing it to the general public, I'd appreciate input from the members of this forum. Click the image above to go to the download page, and let me know what you think via the comments on this post.

The ebook is free of charge for anyone to download, copy, and distribute without modification, subject to a Creative Commons license. For more details on usage, see the STAMink Press license.

Since the ebook is very much a work-in-progress, please subscribe to be notified of updates.

Nice guide. You have a chapter on klaf, where is the chapter on ink? It is not enough that the STAM we buy is kosher today. It also needs to stay kosher forever (or almost forever). The No. 1 reason for STAM losing their kosher status is defects in the ink. Buying expensive STAM with ink that fails easily is like buying (and paying for) a Cadillac with an engine that will fail tomorrow.

Zvi, your comment seems to imply that the inks used for decades are problematic and all of a sudden there is a new ink that is the answer to all our troubles. The truth is that the Aruch Hashulchan wrote that tefillin must be checked "b'eizeh zman due to the fact that we have lost the art of making ink. I had the zechus of checking a pair of tefillin written by Rav Nesanel sofer [Tefillinsky](the pair that belonged to Rav Herman from "All for the Boss".) Rav Nesanel made everything himself, including the ink. His fine lines were very fine and sharp and even so, over 100 years later they were jet black!

While it is possible that a better ink can be developed, Nahari, Kahana, Shechter and Hadar inks have been in use for a very long time with success and decades have established their reliability.

Diyo that fades is one major reason for psulim if you refer to 70-100 years later, in which case fading is up there with cracking/crumbling (due to age/temperature/humidity). Otherwise, weather and overlooked psulim have been the main psulim I've found after checking countless parshios and mezuzahs in the last 24 years. It is true that sometimes the okzim do fade over time but this is often due to the sofrim not putting on enough ink in the first place or watering down their ink too much.

Diyo Lanetzach is new and only time will tell if it remains black. As I posted earlier, I recently started using it in my rapidograph and was very pleased with it but heard there were issues. I consulted Rav Friedlander and he said that the Edah does not recommend Diyo Lanetzach after seeing the results of testing, in which the ink was peeled off. (He said that after 2 weeks the ink was permanently connected to the klaf.) I'm not sure if they don't recommend it b/c it can peel off for a short time but if the mezuzah, for example, written with it is checked and the ink is fine then it is ok or if the fact that it can peel for a considerable length of time after kesiva affects the kashrus even when the ink becomes permanent. (Writing that (may) only stick(s) to the klaf days later is not called kesiva?)

I just spoke to a metayeg who used this ink (for the first and last time at the request of a customer). He got a call 1-1-1/2 months later that the tagin were fading. This happened only a few months ago. My point is that this new ink has issues and even if these issues are worked out, only time can establish the reliability of the ink particularly when a non taditional formula is used.

I have no bone to pick and want the ink to be fine and only know what I was told. If you have any issue with this then I suggest contacting Rav Friendlander or the Edah.

בס''ד

Disclaimer:

Content and opinions expressed on this forum should be viewed as conjecture only and do not necessarily represent a final halachic ruling (unless otherwise stated). One should not use this forum as a substitute for proper "shimush" or a proper rabbinic ruling.

A note regarding titles: I have put R' before all member's names irregardless of whether or not they have smicha for rabbonus or not (i.e. I did not use "Rabbi" title), the exception of "morei horoah" I put "Harav" as a title before their name. Please accept my apology if I have made any mistakes and feel free to email any corrections to info@sofer.com.au